Silence please for Jane’s poignant poem
A celebrated war poem written by a Matlock woman is to be read out in Trafalgar Square on Remembrance Sunday.
Poppies, by Jane Weir, tells the story of a woman whose son has gone to war and her recollection of the times they spent together when he was a child.
Last year, the poem was published in a national newspaper and, since then, Mrs Weir has received positive responses from across Europe.
In September, the poem was introduced into the National Curriculum and, last month, Mrs Weir was approached by the Royal British Legion to ask if it could be read out.
Actress Keeley Hawes, who has starred in BBC dramas Spooks and Ashes to Ashes, has been chosen to read Poppies at the Silence in the Square 2010 event in London.
Afterwards, it will appear on the Royal British Legion’s Official Album of Remembrance, when it will be read by veteran actress Joanna Lumley.
Mrs Weir, 46, who also works as a freelance designer and writer, said she was happy the poem would be helping the Royal British Legion.
She said: “I’m honoured my poem can make a difference and I really hope people can get something out of it. It’s really humbling.
“The poem has really exploded — it’s like a child that has grown up and got a life of its own.
“When I wrote it, I really didn’t have that in mind. I knew it was a good poem but it is only when you see the reception it gets that you can tell people are really moved by it.”
Mrs Weir, who lives in Matlock with husband John, 57, and has sons Jonathan, 21, and James, 18, was commissioned to write the poem by friend and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
She said: “I was contacted by all sorts of people about the poem: parents who had lost their children, teachers whose pupils had been killed in war; it was endless. It’s a universal poem, but I like the fact it’s directly located in Derbyshire.
“I have no problem with people reading it or studying it if it can have an effect.”
The poem will also be read out at another Silence in the Square event, in Swansea, at exactly the same time.
And each copy of the Royal British Legion’s We Will Remember Them album sold will raise £1 for the 2010 Poppy Appeal.
Mrs Weir will then read out the poem herself at the Derwent Poetry Festival, which is being held at Masson Mills, Matlock Bath, from tomorrow until Sunday.
She said: “The festival should be great because they are expecting a good crowd this year and will bring people to the area.”
Thousands of people are expected to pause for thought in Derbyshire at 11am today, as they mark Remembrance Day.
For more information about Mrs Weir, visit www.janeweir.co.uk.
By Caroline Jones for This is Derbyshire.
(Source: This is Derbyshire)